Shakhtar Donetsk vs Celtic. UEFA Champions League Group F.
Pepsi ArenaAttendance20,697.
Match report as Celtic draw 1-1 with Shakhtar Donetsk in Warsaw; Artem Bondarenko's own goal gave Celtic the lead; Mykhailo Mudryk equalised against the run of play
Wednesday 14 September 2022 21:33, UK
Celtic picked up their first Champions League point but were once again left to rue missed opportunities as they drew 1-1 with Shakhtar Donetsk.
They made a blistering start in Warsaw and took an early lead when Artem Bondarenko turned Reo Hatate's ball into his own net.
Ange Postecoglou's side continued to dominate, but a quick counterattack saw Mykhailo Mudryk pull Shakhtar level.
That sparked the Ukrainian side to life and former Hoops winger Marian Shved had the ball in the net again before half-time, but it was disallowed as the ball went out of play before Mudryk's pass.
Celtic dominated the second half but, just as they did in the early stages of their 3-0 defeat to Real Madrid last week, they passed up chances and failed to find a winner.
Postecoglou's team now have one point from their opening two matches in Group F while Shakhtar Donetsk move onto four.
The Ukrainian side, who have been displaced from their home stadium since 2014, attracted a near capacity crowd of close to 30,000 in Legia Warsaw's stadium but the vast majority of noise came from the away fans.
There was no minute's silence for the Queen following discussions between both clubs and UEFA but both sets of players wore black armbands.
Matt O'Riley played in Kyogo Furuhashi in the opening minute but Shakhtar goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin got a foot to the striker's shot to divert it wide.
Greg Taylor's driven cross was deflected just too far in front of the Japan forward and O'Riley had an effort saved before Celtic took the lead in the 10th minute.
Josip Juranovic's diagonal ball found Sead Haksabanovic, who was making his first start for the club. The winger fed Hatate's forward run and the midfielder's shot took a deflection off Artem Bondarenko and went in. Furuhashi could have tapped it home but chose to leave it only for it to be credited as an own goal.
Celtic continued to cause Shakhtar numerous problems with their passing and movement but they levelled out of the blue.
A pass inside former Legia right-back Juranovic gave left-winger Mudryk a clear run at goal and he fired high into the net.
The goal gave Shakhtar a major lift and former Celtic winger Marian Shved soon had the ball in the net. Shved, who only made three appearances for the Hoops, was denied his dream goal by an offside flag against Mudryk.
Joe Hart then parried Shved's curling effort before Celtic got the chance to regroup at half-time.
Celtic again started well and Jota's curling effort was spilled seconds after the restart but Shakhtar cleared the danger.
The Portuguese winger twice came close to scoring memorable goals but had shots blocked at the end of impressive mazy runs.
O'Riley threatened on a number of occasions and his replacement, David Turnbull, shot not far over from 25 yards.
Daizen Maeda saw an acrobatic effort diverted wide and another substitute, Giorgos Giakoumakis, missed Celtic's best chance for a winner with five minutes left. Taylor's pass picked out the normally accurate Greece striker unmarked but he fired his left-footed shot wide from 14 yards.
Maeda also had a good late chance but the Japan attacker fired wide as he slid to meet Juranovic's driven cross.
Giakoumakis then beat the goalkeeper to a cross but his header did not have enough power to get away from a retreating Shakhtar defender, who stopped it from going over the line.
Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou was encouraged by the effort of his players in Warsaw:
"The performance was excellent, obviously the score was not reflective of that.
"The players gave everything and that's all I can ask for. Obviously, we needed that second goal and we had good chances to get it, but from my perspective, I can't ask any more of them.
"We'll get our rewards if we keep playing that kind of football and showing that kind of commitment.
"It's the highest level of club football and every game is pressurised and I just thought there was a real growth in our team in the way we handled it all.
"You definitely have to earn everything at this level. Every point, every win will take maximum effort from us."
October 5: RB Leipzig (A) - kick-off 5:45pm
October 11: RB Leipzig (H) - kick-off 8pm
October 25: Shakhtar Donetsk (H) - kick-off 8pm
November 2: Real Madrid (A) - kick-off 5:45pm
Celtic's next game is away to St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership on Sunday, live on Sky Sports; Kick-off 12pm. Their next Champions League fixture is away to RB Leipzig on October 5.
